Does that mean the Dolphins view Howard as a potential lockdown, shutdown, matchup corner?

“We feel he’s a pretty good player, yes,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Matt Burke said, when asked that question. “We feel he’s got that talent. He’s still a young player. I think physically he’s got all of the tools … in terms of his growth and development and learning and experience and playing some things and seeing some different things, we feel pretty confident in his abilities for sure.”

The Dolphins do not agree with Pro Football Focus’ Howard rating of 37.4, which is 111th among NFL cornerbacks.

The Dolphins do not agree Howard is playing worse than teammates Bobby McCain, Cordrea Tankersley and Byron Maxwell (ranked 109th, even though he’s been benched and declared inactive by Miami.)

“X is playing extremely well,” Gase said. “He’s playing extremely confident. He’s talking a lot, which is great. I love it. And Tank(ersley) is not short of confidence, either. The fact that those guys are confident and mix it up in the run game is really helpful for us.”

Gase likes that Howard gets his hands on receivers on the line of scrimmage and is an aggressive tackler.

In the last game, Howard was beaten on a long touchdown by Falcons receiver Marvin Hall.

Burke said the Dolphins were “caught” by a “nice scheme” which left Howard without safety help.

[…] yards per game and six touchdowns so far this year, while only forcing one interception. With Xavien Howard a bit gimpy and Byron Maxwell’s role in question, the Jets’ advantage, as slight as it […]